Troost-Ekong: Super Eagles ready for Russia test

Photo Credit - CAF Media.

Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong has spoken about the team’s readiness ahead of their international friendly against Russia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday.

The Super Eagles head into the friendly fresh off their Unity Cup glory, having edged Jamaica 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time in England.

“This is not my first time in Moscow and Russia, I have already played in Krasnodar and Volgograd and other cities in 2018,” said Troost-Ekong, as quoted by CompleteSports.

“Yesterday we walked around the city a little, visited Red Square. But we are here on business – this is not a tourist trip. Together with the coach, we have already discussed how we will act in the match.

“I don’t know much about the Russian team now. We understand that the team has changed a lot. Over the past three days, we’ve watched a lot of videos to better understand how they’re playing.

“We’re taking this opponent very seriously. We know that the Russian team hasn’t conceded a single goal in the last few matches – we’ll try to change that tomorrow (Friday).

"We have seen that the Russian team play aggressively, often using a 4-3-3 formation and high pressing [...] This will not be an easy task for us, but I will not go into details. We know both the strengths and weaknesses of this team," concluded the centre-back.